Hidden Hose Stymies Homeowner

My tale of monkey woe concerns a 2001 GE Profile refrigerator. This model has a water and ice dispenser in the freezer door. About a year ago, my wife began complaining that the water tap was working sporadically. Later we began to notice water pooling on the floor below the refrigerator door. Eventually, I narrowed the dripping to the time just after we drew water from the freezer door tap. I disconnected the coil of the water solenoid, and it stopped the dripping. However, it also defeated the water-in-the-door function, which did not make my wife happy.

I went to several appliance parts Websites. I discovered that the water line went under the main part of the fridge, through the bottom and top hinges of the main door, and through the bottom hinge of the freezer door. It then routed to the water tap in the freezer door. The hose was available as a replacement part. I looked at the fridge-door gasket and saw rust stains. Obviously, it was time to remove the door-mounted shelving to see if I could find a leak inside the door.

Much to my surprise, I found the door was filled with dripping wet foam insulation. The foam completely filled the door cavity and was not removable. The leaking hose was totally buried in the foam. There was no way to replace the hose without destroying the insulation. The freezer door was constructed the same way. The water hose was completely encapsulated by the foam insulation. Monkeys!

This entry was submitted by Lloyd Piper and edited by Rob Spiegel.

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Oh, oh. This has me concerned. I'm the proud owner of the same fridge--same model, same year, same monkey'd up design. So I have leaking water in that same area at times, although I never use the water dispenser so it's not something you'd really think twice about. I know you said you couldn't fix the problem because of where the hoses are. My question is is this the fridge now toast or are you able to still use it?

The fridge is still usable. We just can't use the water-in-the door feature. To make sure nobody accidentally tries to use this feature, I removed power from the solenoid valve that controls the water in the door. It is conveniently located ar the rear of the fridge, behind a removable panel. I also disconnected the water line from the output of the solenoid, and plugged the output port of the valve. Consequently, water can never get to the leak in the hose.

The icemaker is fed by a different line that is totally accessable (go figure!) The refrigerator, the freezer and the icemaker still work.

We don't plan to repalce it until it can't keep food cold and/or frozen. Hopefully we can get at least 10 more years out of it.

BTW, my in-laws ahave a 50+ year old Frigidaire that is still working. It's not their main fridge, but that's quite an enviable lifetime for a kitchen appliance.

Thanks for clarifying what you did to resolve the problem. I'm tucking it away just in case. Your in-laws are indeed lucky with getting 50+ years out of an appliance. But I have to say, no matter how great my appliance performed and held up over the years, you'd have to count me among the group that would be wanting a new, state-of-the-art appliance after a certain amount of time. Hence, the feeling that if my GE fridge gives me too many hose problems after a good solid decade of use, I guess I have to be okay with moving on to the next innovation.

Small drips and leaks have high potential for big problems in your house. We once had a drip on the bottom of our refrigerator from the inlet of the water supply to the ice maker. As it dripped under the refrigerator, the leak was not noticed for some time which allowed over time for the water to penetrate the floor tiles and into the underlayment which when found required replacement of the flooring to avoid black mold growth. Good job in disconnecting the selenoid to avoid any possible future failure.

You would think as a minimun the specifications of the design would be "does not leak". But often if appears that this is some kind of foreign concept. I wish the industry and the the consumer as a whole would expect more and be willing to pay for more. When will consumers stop going by price and pay extra for quality.

What does everyone else think? Can a quality driven consumer drive a quality driven product from a quality drivien manufacturer?

Beth, this is why some "new" ides are at all times and under all conditions, poor choices. The mandate of much higher efficiency in refrigerators has taken us away from the dys when things like that were repairable. The only reliable water chilling system that I have seen was one that did not have the connections in a door, but rather in a fixed panel. The problem is that it is not possible to build a good product using cheap and inferior materials.

BUT there is available a means to do the repairs and then restore the original level of insulation. Foam insulation in a number of different materials is available even in stores like Home Depot, and while it may not be exactly the same as the original foam, it ought to insulate fairly well.

But the actual repair is another challenge, since just replacing the failed components will allow the same failure to happen again. The challenge would be to come up with an approach that would not be suject to failure in the reasonable life of the appliance, which should be at least a minimum of ten years. That will require a great deal of thinking. When you arrive at a solution please share it with us.

I would think that the end of the story was only the intro. I would be ripping the foam out and figure how to replace the plastic tubing. The foam can be bought in a can at the home centers. Perhaps the plastic tubing can be replaced with a more rugged product.

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